Escaping the Darkness
by ladeste
Summary: Although Ace has adjusted to life as a Whitebeard Commander, it's still nice knowing he has a brother willing to chase away his nightmares. Ace / Thatch brotherly fic.


**Ace/Thatch brotherly fic. Anything else is up to your own imagination! Enjoy!**

* * *

Ace bolted upright.

Tremors racked his body as the sweat poured down his back.

Gasping for air, Ace desperately fought the disorientation that threatened his mind.

A nightmare.

Just a nightmare.

A dream.

Nothing more.

Ace flopped back onto his bed staring at the ceiling. Running a hand through his air, he slowly began counting up to ten, then down to zero, up to ten, down to zero.

He was fine. He was safe. He was on the Moby Dick surrounded by his family.

Turning onto his side, Ace took in every detail of his small room. At first he had protested the idea of having a cabin all to himself, but Marco and Haruta had quickly come to convince him that he needed the space to do his (shudder) paperwork in.

He'd never associated pirates with having to do something as mundane as paperwork. Sure he expected a degree of it with understanding the navigation, just not having to write reports. Yet on his desk was a disarray of papers requiring his attention before they could be palmed off to someone else.

He silently thanked Makino for all of her lessons in reading and writing. It had taken a number of evil glares and slaps to the back of the head to make them sit down and pay attention, but he was glad she had made the effort to beat it into their heads.

Above the desk he could just make out the wanted poster pinned to the wall.

Even if his room had been pitch black, it wouldn't have mattered. He knew the poster off by heart. It was one of his most precious possessions. The day he had first seen it he almost burst out of excitement before realising that it meant that Luffy had done something astronomically stupid causing him to experience a near heart-attack.

Luffy...

Rolling back to face the ceiling once more, Ace covered his face with his hands, trying to erase the image his mind had imprinted on the inside of his eyelids.

His nightmares and become less frequent as he adjusted to his life as a Whitebeard Pirate, but it didn't change the fear that came from the haunting visions.

* * *

_Ace stood by the shore in town. A crowd had gathered unlike anything he'd ever seen before. They were gathering for something important, he just couldn't figure out what. He felt like he should have remembered, it was something important, but what?_

_The faceless people mulled passed him, never touching, never speaking, only a faint hum of unrecognisable sounds. Then, as one, the people stopped to stare into the distance. _

_What they had been waiting for was here._

_Ace followed their gazes to a ship beyond comparison. Three times the size of the Moby Dick, Ace felt himself revert to the size of a child as the ship dwarfed over everything – the people, the other boats, even the ocean. _

_As the ship drew closer a small raft floated into its path._

_Sabo._

_The panic flared inside his chest as he tried to weave in and out of the mindless adults blocking him from his brother._

_Ace tried to scream out to him._

"_Move! Please! Sabo, Move!"_

_The words would not come._

_His mouth opened, the actions were made, but his voice failed, no noise leaving his throat. _

"_You're stronger than I am! You have to live! I'm the demon! Please, Sabo. Move!"_

_A flare of fire launched towards the raft. Within seconds smoke and flames licked along every inch of Sabo's freedom._

_Unable to stand by and not do anything, Ace jumped into the bay splashing over to the still burning raft._

_It didn't seem to matter how hard or fast he kicked the raft remained out of reach._

_Suddenly, the fire extinguished, the remains sinking into the black depths below, all that remained was a blue top hat floating along the waves._

_Ace froze in the water, the weight of the surrounding force starting to take its toll._

_Turning away from the scene and back to the bay, his attention was drawn to a solitary figure._

'_No.'_

_There, standing all alone was Luffy. _

_Terror seized Ace as he witnessed the horror consume the innocence in Luffy's wide brown eyes._

_Luffy's arms flailed as he desperately tried to convey something to him._

_Finally Ace could make out the mouthed words._

"_You can't swim!"_

_As the meaning reached him, Ace felt himself being pulled under the waves, the image of Luffy scared and alone, his final memory. _

* * *

Ace groaned as the dream replayed over in his head.

It didn't even make sense when he deconstructed it.

He and Luffy hadn't even been there when Sabo had– when Sabo had– when he'd gone. Everything he knew was second hand, his imagination filling in the rest.

He'd also been an excellent swimmer. If it had of been real, there was no way he would have drowned. However that didn't stop the burning in his throat as if he had consumed gallons of sea water. Perhaps it was his inability to swim now, that sparked the fear of not being able to swim in the past...but that didn't make sense either.

In all of it though, it was the sight of Luffy, his will and endless joy so utterly destroyed that made him shiver.

Why did Luffy place so much value on his life?

He was the son of a monster, but Luffy didn't seem able to see that.

Finally tired of the rampant thoughts running through his head, Ace untangled himself from the bed sheets and sought out another sheet of paper on his wall.

Setting the tips of his fingers alight, Ace waited for his eyes to adjust to the change in brightness before examining the roster of nightshifts.

It was more out of habit than necessity.

He knew who was on shift tonight.

He was merely delaying the inevitable.

Ace let the flames die out as he wandered out into the hall and up onto the deck.

"T-Thatch?"

Having not been able to make any noise in his dreams, Ace was startled by the raspy quality of his voice.

Clearing his throat he called again.

"Thatch?"

"Hey Kiddo, you okay?"

Under normal circumstances Thatch would never have got away with calling Ace 'Kiddo', however when it came to their late night meetings, Thatch found he could get away with a number of things neither would admit to when the sun was shining.

Ace didn't offer a verbal response, instead choosing to shake his head.

Reaching into his pocket, Thatch retrieved a flask which he had taken to carrying on his nightshifts exactly for these occasions.

Taking a sip first, the flask was passed over to Ace who accepted it without question.

Thatch was the obnoxious older brother in the Whitebeard patchwork family. The one that would tease mercilessly if given the ammunition, but in these moments the humour was lost and he became the protective older brother than most of the crew never saw unless they were on the battlefield.

Ace was an exception to the rule.

He was their 'baby' brother.

One of the youngest, one of the newest, but no less a brother.

Nudging Ace over to a stack of creates, the pair took a seat silently passing the flask back and forth.

Thatch didn't push Ace to talk.

Some nights the pair would talk for hours, and others there was scarcely a word said.

Ace gently traced the etched design of Pop's mark on the metal flask before speaking.

"Why'd you become a pirate?"

Thatch contemplated the question as he leant forward, his elbows resting on top of his knees.

"Honestly? Boredom. Probably loneliness and a lack of purpose as well."

At this Ace quirked his eyebrow at the older man. It was so Thatch to do something as life changing as becoming a pirate out of boredom. Although the loneliness had surprised him.

"Mmm... I was probably a bit younger than you were when you first joined us. Pop's has been my first and only Captain. I don't think I even realised I was lonely until after I joined the crew."

Thatch continued his tale without prompting.

"It had been just me for so long that I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to have other people around. I think it took me about two weeks of being on board until I realised that I didn't want to go back to the life I'd had."

The pair fell into an easy silence as Ace pondered on the new knowledge he'd gained from his brother.

His brother.

Ace clenched his eyes shut as he tried to banish the visions of his nightmare.

He'd been able to tell Sabo anything. His fears, hopes and dreams. Sabo had been the first person other than Garp (who had been the one to tell him), who knew that Ace's father was THAT man.

The reply he'd received had been prompt.

"My dad's worse. He's a noble. At least yours was a pirate."

It had been a long standing argument between the pair as to which father was worse, until they agreed to merely disagree with each other's opinion. After all, what did it matter? They had each other, and eventually Luffy. The loneliness that the three felt had brought them together. At least that's what he liked to believe.

A frown pulled at Thatch's lips as he watched Ace fight with his inner turmoil. The last time he had tried to intervene it had taken three separate sleepless nights for Ace to seek him out again. He'd over stepped once, he wouldn't repeat his mistake. However it didn't stop the feelings of hurt and helplessness as Ace suffered.

"My brother's and I were the same till we found each other."

Thatch's eyes widened as the plural registered.

Sure Ace talked about Luffy all the time, but it was only ever Luffy...

"You remind me of Sabo a bit."

Ace grinned at him cheekily, as some of his happier memories surfaced.

"Of course you're more immature."

Thatch shoved Ace's shoulder good naturedly, whilst he pouted in mock hurt.

"Hey! I am one of the most mature people on board!"

"So it _was_ Haruta who filled the pipes of Marco's shower with glitter..."

Thatch rose to his feet, his voice full of indignation.

"As if! That pip-squeak could never pull off one of my pranks! They're way too above her!"

Ace smirked at Thatch's confession... oh the things he could tell Marco in the morning...

Seeing Ace's grin, Thatch leaned in close, his index finger jabbing into Ace's chest.

"What happens on deck stays on deck."

"I thought it happened in Marco's bathroom."

"Touche. Please don't tell Marco, he'd kill me!"

The pair shared a look before bursting out into laughter. Ace wouldn't really snitch on Thatch, especially not when he was the one that had been passing up the buckets of glitter to Thatch as he carefully blocked off the water and made the switch.

For the first time that evening the atmosphere lightened.

Offering his hand to Ace, Thatch pulled the younger pirate to his feet.

"Hey Thatch?"

"Mmm?"

"Have you decided if you're going to eat it yet?"

Shaking his head, Thatch replied with a negative.

"I'm still thinking about it. I don't want to be stuck with it if it's something stupid."

"Nah it won't be."

Thatch look at Ace incredulously.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice! It won't be. Stupid people get stupid devil fruits; it's a fact of life. Whatever it is it's awesome, cause..."

Ace's checks heated up as he realised the compliment he was about to dish out.

Thatch, unwilling to let an opportunity slip, grabbed Ace in a head lock.

"Awww... Ace, you're too cute."

"Thatch!" Ace whined. "Get off of me!"

They continued to squabble playfully as the sun began to rise.

Neither noticed a dark figure slinking back into the shadows. Teach's glare lingered on Ace half a second longer. He had missed his chance tonight.

It seemed like Thatch had been saved... at least for one more night.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! ****Let me know what you thought. Liked it, hated it, let me know.  
****  
****Also, feel free to interpret the ending however you like... If you want to stick to cannon you can, otherwise you can be like me and pretend that Thatch worked out what he wanted to do with the fruit before Teach had another chance to attack (a much better option in my opinion!).**


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